


Five Times Steve and Bucky Didn't Dance Together

by showgirlsteve



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Dancing, M/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-10 16:58:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4399973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showgirlsteve/pseuds/showgirlsteve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...and one time they did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Steve and Bucky Didn't Dance Together

**Author's Note:**

> I asked for ficlet prompts over on tumblr, so of course the first one I get inspired a 5+1
> 
> spacebucky asked: steve/bucky + dancing at clubs (what time period?? no one knows)
> 
> the answer is all the time periods!

**1\. School Gymnasium, 1934**

“C’mon, Steve,” Bucky says. “You can’t just lean against the wall all night.”

“I’m okay over here,” Steve replies. He does his best to avoid looking wistfully at the dance floor. “Girls would rather dance with you, anyway, Buck, go have fun.”

“It’s not fun if you’re over here.”

Bucky frowns as he notices Steve rub a hand against his chest. “Your asthma playing up again?”

“It’s nothing. Just a little bit achy from last time I had that cough, doctor said I’m fine. I’m just maybe not quite up to a dance? This one is all you.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m  _sure_ , Bucky, really.”

“At least sit,” Bucky says, steering Steve toward a table. Two girls grab each of Bucky’s hands and drag him back to the dance floor as soon as he gets Steve to promise to take it easy.

* * *

 

**2\. Double Date, 1939**

“Get dressed,” Bucky says, throwing the door open. “We’re going out.”

“Hi, Steve,” Steve grumbles, putting away his pencils. “Nice to see you, Steve. My day was fine, thanks, how are you?”

“Just move it, alright? Dorothy said she’s got a friend whose single and into the whole art school thing, now’s your chance. We’re taking them dancing.”

Steve pulls on a clean shirt. “What do you mean, the art school thing?”

“You know, that whole…sensitive artist thing, I dunno.”

“You don’t know?”

“Will you just come on, already? She wants to meet you.”

(Steve’s date is actually quite sweet, but she slips and twists her ankle on the way to the dance hall. She’s impressed with Steve’s attentions as he helps her hobble back to her apartment. They go on two more dates before she ends things.

“You’re a great guy, Steve,” she tells him. “But I don’t play second fiddle.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. There aren’t any other girls.”

“I know there aren’t,” she whispers, smiling sadly. She leans forward and kisses his cheek.)

* * *

 

**3\. Gay Bar, 1940**

“I’m going to sit right here,” Bucky says. “And if you try to come sit next to me again I’m shoving you back to the dancing. I’ll actually push you, just watch me.”

“This isn’t really what I was expecting when you found out I like guys, too, you know.”

“Well, you don’t have much luck with the dames I set you up with. What kind of friend am I if I stop trying there?”

Bucky expected a queer bar to be tangibly different, somehow, from the bars and dance halls he usually frequents, but unless you look real close at some of the couples on the dance floor it isn’t that far off. Besides, he thinks, looking behind the short-haired woman manning the bar, the beer is cheaper.

Steve gets swooped up onto the dance floor in no time. Bucky refuses to meet his eyes after the first two times he looks back at the bar for reassurance – Steve isn’t going to find a man if he keeps staring at Bucky all night.

A tall woman at the end of the bar catches Bucky’s eye and waves. She’s wearing a blue dress and expensive jewelry and has a visible adam’s apple. Bucky winks back and tilts his drink in her direction.

He might not take anyone home tonight but it’s a decent boost to the ego to know he could find a dancing partner just as easily here as he could anywhere else.

* * *

 

**4\. Nightclub, 2014**

“You’d think Captain America would be a better wingman,” Sam complains. “Honestly.”

“I guess I’m not used to this side of things,” Steve tells him, smiling. He shakes his head. “I’ll do better, really. It’s just – really loud in here. I’ll get used to it.”

Sam looks Steve up and down. His foot stops tapping to the beat. “You okay, man?”

“I told you, I just –“

“You know what? Just sit. Here. Grab yourself a drink. I’m gonna go make sure I still got game without you here to throw everything off.”

“It’s not my fault that woman gave me her number instead of you.”

“I’m Captain America,” Sam says, mockingly. “I save kittens from trees and help old ladies cross the street and my superpowers include making other superheroes completely invisible when I smile because I’m just that damn  _cute_ but I don’t ever use that power to get a damn date for  _myself_.”

Steve shoves Sam in the direction of the dance floor and grabs a drink menu from the bar.

“You should try one of those pink things,” says Bucky, appearing from thin air to pull up a seat next to Steve. It’s the third time this month that Bucky has decided to make contact with no prior warning. Neither Sam nor Steve can figure out where he goes in between visits. “With the umbrellas.”

“Umbrella drink,” says Steve. “Sure. Why not?”

Steve orders a drink that comes in an electric shade of blue just to be contrary. He does get an umbrella, though.

* * *

 

**5. Gay Club, 2015**

“This isn’t what I expected,” says Bucky.

“It isn’t that different from the last club we went to,” says Steve. “Same kind of not-actually-dancing. Same really loud, um,  _music_. Same colorful drinks. More glitter, though.”

“More glitter. More  _wandering hands_.” Bucky grabs Steve’s ass possessively after it gets pinched a fourth time. “I don’t think this is really our scene, Steve.”

“No,” Steve agrees, nudging Bucky with his hip. “I don’t think it is. Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

 

**+1. Stark Tower Christmas Party, 2015**

Steve leans into Bucky as the party begins to wind down. He’s had just enough of Thor’s Asgardian homebrew to feel at-ease in the crowd and now that there are less people around he’s starting to get grabby.

“Love you, Buck,” he sighs.

“C’mon, you lush,” Bucky laughs. “Band’s not done yet.”

He pulls Steve onto the empty dance floor and holds him a bit closer than is probably strictly necessary. Bucky doesn’t recognize the song but his mind flips through the dances he knows that match the beat of the music. He looks at Steve’s relaxed smile and decides to keep it to the simple shuffle they’re managing alright so far.

Slowly, other couples make their way to the dance floor. Tony spins Pepper twice before she takes the lead and dips him for a kiss. Jane steps on Thor’s feet but the god doesn’t seem to notice. Darcy drags two straggler interns onto the floor for an awkward three-person shuffle next to where Natasha and Clint are partway through what looks to be a well-practiced routine. Rhodey looks impressed at the wild movements of the Lady Sif, who brought him to the dance floor and then proceeded to ignore him. Bruce tries to dance with Maria Hill without actually putting his hands on her, and Sam convinces the bartender that the stragglers at the party can go without her services for one song.

“Not bad,” Steve says, taking in the sight of his teammates stumbling or gliding, in turns, across the dance floor. Nearly all of them are laughing.

“No,” says Bucky, not taking his eyes off of Steve. “Not bad at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are my favorite thing ever!
> 
>  
> 
> [Visit me on tumblr!](http://showgirlsteve.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> (not beta read - I imported from a tumblr post. feel free to let me know if there are any typos or issues.)


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